Part 15 (2/2)

Cerberus must have sensed my distress. He dropped one of his heads onto my thigh, and the comfort was instant.

”Well, I won't give up then. Maybe my mate is just around the corner.” Ria was genteel as always.

”We'll have to introduce you to Lucas,” Lucy grinned, ”you two have a lot in common.”

Lucky I'd finished the cookies, but I did almost snort quant juice from my nose. Once I had stopped coughing I spluttered my words at Lucy.

”You've got to be kidding me. What in the world besides exceptional physical genetics do they have in common?”

”Exceptional physical genetics?” Talina furrowed her brow.

”They're both hot as h.e.l.l.” Lucy laughed. ”Well ... Lucas and Ria are royals, they lead their people fairly, they even talk in the same politically correct phrases.”

Ria tilted her head as she examined her already dry nails. ”I feel that there couldn't be a more disastrous love match than two leaders from different worlds. We would forever be torn apart or forced to choose between love and our people.”

”I couldn't agree more.” The masculine voice had us all spinning to face the doorway.

Cerberus was suddenly on his feet in front of me, low growls filling the room and raising the hair on my arms.

Lucas stood there, a grin on his handsome features, although he looked a little unsure when he faced the two-headed guard hound. He was dressed all in black, which set off his icy blond hair and blue eyes. And he was sans crown at that moment.

”Sorry to intrude. I dropped by hoping to catch Abby between world-jumping.” His eyes scanned the room before coming to rest on Ria. ”I didn't realize I was interrupting girl time.”

And then, as if Lucy had preempted the future again, something pa.s.sed between the gazes of Lucas and Ria.

”No,” the Regali half-Walker gasped, ”it can't be you.”

Lucas fisted both hands into his hair. His eyes widened as his features froze. ”I ... s.h.i.+t ... I can't believe this,” he muttered, before taking a step toward her. ”You can't be real. The dreams were not real; Abby's the chosen Empress. This makes no sense.”

”Dreams?” Lucy interrupted.

Oh, s.h.i.+t. Lucas was the man she'd talked of.

My heart was aching again, but for Ria this time. She looked like she was about to cry. d.a.m.n, the more people I cared about, the more my emotions were stretched ten ways.

Ria's voice wavered as she crossed her arms across her chest. ”When I was younger my world was pretty harsh. My mother was gone and I was trying to find my place among the packs. I remember the first time, during my spiritual ventures, a young boy appeared. When he visited me I wasn't alone; there was another just like me.”

”Sounds like she was sampling the calia flowers,” Lucy murmured to me.

I elbowed her. At that point Cerberus must have decided Lucas was no threat. He settled back into a sleeping position, resting his head on his half pink-tipped paws.

”Over the years his appearance changed; we grew older together.” Ria stood then, her ma.s.ses of luscious hair falling to her calves. ”I never thought he was real, and I never realized how much I relied on those moments, until he stopped arriving.” She stalked right up to the dumbstruck Emperor. ”You stopped once I became queen, as if you thought I no longer needed you. I still needed you!” she practically shouted in his face, before storming from the room.

Wow, I'd rarely seen Ria worked up like that. When she'd told me about the spiritual dreams she'd been mostly sad. But now ... well, her anger was almost as extreme as her reaction when we had found all of her dead and skinned pack members. Which told me how strong her feelings were right now.

”Uh-oh, you have some explaining to do, king-boy,” Lucy trilled. She fluttered in the air, sparkling dust wafting from her.

”I think maybe you have some explaining to do, Luce.” I reached out and yanked her out of the air. ”You totally predicted that and pretended like it was just a throwaway comment.”

”I told you,” she twitched her lips, hiding a smile, ”I still have pixie powers of premonition. Some of my visions were definitely my own. And now that my mind is protected, I can sense what belongs to me and what is ... other.”

Confused muttering erupted around the room. We hadn't told the girls yet that not all of Lucy's visions had been real. Having no choice now, Lucy quickly explained what she'd learned about pixies and her new abilities. When she was finished, I locked the sh.e.l.l-shocked emperor in my gaze.

”Back to you, Lucas, you also dreamed of Ria?” I asked him as he crashed onto one of the squishy couches, his head in his hands.

”I should go after her. I can't sit here while she's upset,” he said, his voice m.u.f.fled. ”But I know this can never work; I've always known that you were my chosen.” He lifted his head and faced me. ”I won't do this to First World or to you, Abby. You'll be all alone.”

Uh, wait, what did he just say? The girls were clearing their throats and trying not to look too closely at each other. Great friends. They were about ten seconds from laughing their b.u.t.ts off.

”I'm perfectly capable of finding a man.” I flipped Lucas off. Yeah, he was the emperor, but he was also an a.s.shat. ”And I have no interest in being your empress.”

The room exploded in laughter then. Lucy was draped across Cerberus as her chest shook.

Lucas ignored my soon-to-be-ex-best-friends. ”Fate dictates differently. I'm the emperor; you're the chosen empress; there's a connection between us,” he said.

”You're wrong, Lucas.” Lucy pulled herself up, her laughter more contained. ”I see the path very clearly on this and Ria's your chosen. But there's some truth to Abby being the empress also. It's now up to you to find the path where both of these 'destinies' align.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. Dammit, whose side was Lucy on? As if I didn't have enough to occupy my time, and she knew about Brace he was my future. There was no way I could rule Abernath as the princep's mate and First World as the empress. Talk about torn between love and your people. I'd be in the same up-s.h.i.+t-creek-without-a-paddle-boat as Lucas and Ria.

Suddenly Lucas' face brightened. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. Why were his eyes so sparkly? Where had the lines of stress gone? What was his scheming mind up to now? He met my laser-beam eyes. I was giving him the glare of a century. He smiled, just to be more annoying than usual.

”Could that work, Abby?” His voice was low. ”For the first time in the history of our rulers, could we have an emperor and empress who ruled together, but were not romantically linked?”

And his thoughts were suddenly very clear. I rubbed my hands across my face, giving myself a moment to consider his words. s.h.i.+t. I wanted to protest, but his words resonated with a ring of truth. On occasion I still had the dreams of First World; the ones where I was the one to save the people. I'd never mentioned it to anyone, not even Lucy, but in these dreams I was the empress, and the ruling duo of me and Lucas worked. My more practical and less privileged nature tempered Lucas and provided the perfect ruling balance.

”Abby?” Lucy sidled closer.

I was lost in thought. I'd never noticed before, but not one of the dream scenes involved anything romantic or s.e.xual with Lucas. We were often together, making decisions, but we never touched or kissed. In my need to ignore these visions, I'd not paid close enough attention to the facts being presented to me.

”I'm not happy to admit this, but ... I think you might be right, Lucas,” I finally said. ”We're definitely not true mates; I know that for a fact.” I held my hand up before he could ask how. ”But I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a tie to First World and its people.”

Lucy interrupted Lucas before he could reply. ”Not to change the subject or anything, but can anyone tell me why when we first arrived on First World Brace's fake dad ... or whoever that dude was, called this planet Grandier.” She pursed her lips. ”I've never heard anyone else use that name.”

Lucas chuckled. ”Honestly the only ones I've ever known to use the original name were my father and Deralick.” He shook his head. ”It's always been First World and always will be.”

I nodded my head. ”This was the first world in this star system. The name fits.”

The sound of a throat being cleared had us turning to the doorway again. It was Josian. ”Walkers have always called it First World. I think it was one of the Emperors who thought it needed a grander name ... and from this Grandier was born.” As always Walkers held the answers. Josian strolled into the room. ”I was just coming in to kick the Emperor out. I had strict instructions that you girls were not to be disturbed.”

I wondered who'd been brave enough to ignore Josian's orders. Probably Lucas just showed himself in.

”I'm leaving. I think I've achieved more than I expected from my visit.” Lucas stood, showing no annoyance at Josian's domineering att.i.tude. ”When you're finished saving our worlds, Abby, you and I need to have a very serious chat about the future.”

His tone told me that was not a polite suggestion. It was an order.